Monday, December 24, 2018

The UFC's decision to switch UFC 232 card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at just six days' notice has drawn widespread criticism from MMA fighters, who took to social media to voice their discontent.

The move comes after Jon Jones submitted a drug test that produced an abnormal result, leading to the Nevada State Athletic Commission's refusal to sanction his December 29 light-heavyweight title bout with Alexander Gustafsson at the T-Mobile Arena.

But rather than pulling the Jones-Gustafsson fight from the card, UFC officials have decided to keep the card intact by moving the entire event from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

It means fans with flight and hotel reservations will have to cancel or change their bookings, with many set to lose their money due to nonrefundable bookings.

And for the fighters and their camps, it means unwanted upheaval and stress during a time when they are beginning to think about cutting weight and making their final preparations for their respective bouts.

Jones' opponent for his December 29 rematch, Swedish contender Alexander Gustafsson, slammed his opponent after the news broke, saying he now knew why the American did not submit to voluntary drug testing, despite being recommended to do so.

Unsurprisingly, Jones' big rival and current two-division world champion Daniel Cormier, posted to Twitter when the news broke, calling the situation "a joke."

Cormier's training partner at American Kickboxing Academy, fellow Olympic wrestler-turned-UFC athlete Arjan Singh Bhullar, posted to tell his friend not to bother with Jones any more.

Former UFC heavyweight, MMA legend and vocal opposer of drugs in combat sport Mark Hunt delivered both barrels to the UFC across two Instagram posts where he slammed Jones as a "cheater" and called the UFC "Ultimate F*****g Cheaters."

UFC women's featherweight contender Megan Anderson who is set to face Cat Zingano at UFC 232, tweeted her dismay at the situation with an appropriately-chosen GIF.

UFC light-heavyweight Corey Anderson, is also set for action at UFC 232 as he prepares to face Swedish contender Ilir Latifi, and "Overtime" laid out his complaint, focusing on the travel turmoil he and his family are experiencing as a result of the last-minute change of plans.

And bantamweight Brian Kelleher, who is due to kick off the event in the first fight of the night at The Forum, says he wants to see some of Jones' fight purse go to him to help reimburse him for the additional travel costs incurred for the event.

Long-serving UFC welterweight veteran Matt "The Immortal" Brown said his view of the UFC had been damaged by their handling of the situation, saying he was "really not proud to be a part of this organization today".

Bellator middleweight Mike "Biggie" Rhodes focused his ire at the UFC for their mistreatment of the fans who look set to lose out financially through lost travel plans as a result of the venue change.

And former UFC fighter David Michaud tweeted to suggest that any trips involving a Jon Jones fight should always include contingency plans.

Former world heavyweight champion Frank Mir saw his UFC career ended by a hotly-disputed anti-doping case with USADA, and he sees parallels with Jones' situation, but very different approaches by the anti-doping administrators.

And another former UFC heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic, took to Twitter to clarify to the world that he's a 100% clean athlete... except for the occasional cold drink, courtesy of the UFC's official beer.

And, of course, UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov had something to say about the situation, especially given his own situation following UFC 229.

His tongue-in-cheek response: "Transfer my court to Russia."

It's clear that fighters across the MMA sphere are less than impressed with Jones, with the UFC and with the upheaval their fellow fighters are being forced to endure ahead of the final event of the year.

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